Albania: First Semifinal Takes Place

The first 11 artists vying to represent Albania through longstanding music festival Festivali i Këngës performed this evening. After tomorrow evening, when the other 11 acts perform, a small cut will take place for Saturday’s final, which will determine Albania’s entrant at the Eurovision Song Contest 2018. A wide variety of genres and tempos were on offer, from Bojken Lako’s sparsely-staged ballad with a vocal reminiscent of Tom Waits to Manjola Nallbani’s opera-tinged floor-filler. It’s anybody’s guess in which direction Albania’s notoriously unpredictable jury will go. Tonight’s show also featured performances by and interviews with Italian singer Riccardo Cocciante and Albania’s 2015 Eurovision entrant, Elhaida Dani, who performed the Albanian version of her entry.

We’ll update you all with links to all of tonight’s performances as they get uploaded!